Knife for cutting toothpicks.



W. 0. KING.

KNIFE FOR CUTTING TOOTHPICKS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 26.1911

atented Sept. 3,1912.

UNITED stares ra'rnn'r orrion.

WILLIAM C. KING, OF PHILLIPS, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, OF PHILLIPS, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

KNIFE FOR CUTTING TOOTHPICKS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TILLIAM'C. KING, of Phillips, in the county of Franklin and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knives for Cutting Toothpicks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device for cutting toothpicks from veneer strips and it is particularly designed for cutting tapering toothpicks with rounded ends, and known on the market as Ideal toothpicks. These toothpicks have flattened ends, one of which is narrower than the other, making the toothpick tapering in form and the larger end is rounded or semicircular in outline. These Ideal toothpicks as well as others of the same general form have been made by feeding a veneer strip over an inverted knife and forcing the pick down onto the knife by means of a vertically reciprocated cutting block.

Vhen square ended toothpicks were cut, two splitting blades were used, set at a slight angle and so that one complete pick would be formed in the space between the blades and one beyond the outside blade at each reciprocation of the cutting block.

Several methods have beenused for forming the rounded ends. According to one method a knife was used which consisted of two splitting blades set at a slight angle as described, with an end cutting blade set at each end of the tapering space between the splitting blades and like end cutting blades on the outside of the outer knife. Thus at each stroke of the cutting block one pick would be formed between the two splitting blades and another on the outside of the outer blade, the outer side .of this latter pick having been cut by the inner knife at the previous stroke. The difiiculty with the method was that the feed was so inaccurate that the outer edge of the outer pick could not exactly with the outer end of the semicircular wing or end cutting blade and thus the rounded end would not be a continuation of the side of the pick. This difliculty of exactly gaging the feed arose from the fact that the feed was continuous and the cutting intermittent so that while the veneer was being forced down onto the knives it had to compress and bend between the feed rolls and the knife to allow the surplus to ac- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. December 26, 1911.

be depended upon to register Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

Serial No. 667,939.

cumulate during the cutting operation. When the. strip was lifted the end would spring forward over the knives to a greater or less extent according to the firmness or porosity of the wood of which the strip was made. Thus by this method of cutting two complete picks with two splitting knives, the pick formed between,the two knives would be perfect because it was cut with a complete die, while the outer one would often be imperfect because only one side and the two ends were cut at one time, the other side having been previously out,

Another method which has been employed was to make use of the two straight splitting blades spoken of, set at a slight angle to out two picks at one time, the ends being shaped by end cutting bladesset so as to indent the edges of the veneer strip before it reached the split-ting knives. It was necessary in this process to set the end cutting blades two spaces away from the splitting knives and the difliculty of causing the end. cuts to register with the splitting blades spoken of in the other process was greatly increased owing to the distance to be traveled. I

The object of my invention is to construct a knife by which two complete and exactly similar picks may be formed at one stroke of the cutting block with little or no waste. To accomplish this object I make use of three straight splitting blades set side by side so as to form two complete tapering picks with the ends reversed and with end cutting blades interposed between the ends of the splitting blades. The central blade is made sufliciently thin so as to leave a down wardly expanding space between the central and the outer knives. I thus form two complete dies through which the picks pass downward and which insure an absolutely uniform product.

I have illustrated my invention by means of the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of a veneer strip represented as being fed by suitable feed rolls over the pick cutting knife, the outline of the cutting blades being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the toothpicks. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the completed knives in its preferable form. Fig. t is a perspective view of the central blade. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the splitting blades. Fig. 6 is a central cross section through the completed knife, and Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the operative parts of the machine.

a, represents the veneer strip which is shown as feeding forward over the inverted knife indicated generally by the letter D. 7-, represents the feed rolls, n the cutting block, m the lifting strip and 0 one of the completed toothpicks.

The cutting knife is made up with three straight splitting blades arranged side by side so as to form two tapering spaces the exact form of two toothpicks with reversed ends. The two outer knives will thus be parallel and the inner one slightly diagonal. The ends of the picks are formed by end cutting blades interposed between the central and outer knives, thus forming two complete dies. As here shown, the central blade is made up of a straight splitting blade (i having at each end two end cutting blades, (Z and (Z at one end and d and cl at the opposite end. The blades 03 and (Z are made semicircular to form the rounded broad end and the cutting blades for the small end are as shown, two short straight blades d and cl projecting laterally from the blade (Z The blade (Z and the four end cutting blades in the form of knife here shown are made integral. The straight portion of the blade is made as thin as possible so as to allow clearance between it and the other blades as the picks pass downward.

The two outer blades d and f are perfectly straight and fit against the end cutting blades formed on the central blade so as to make a close joint which will not permit any splinters to get in between the cutting edges.

The inner sides of the two side blades are cut away so that a downwardly expanding space will be formed on each side of the central blade to permit the picks to pass freely downwardafter they have been cut.

The straight end cutting blade may be carved if desired to make both ends rounded.

The operation of my knife is evident from what has been said as to its construction.

The veneer strip is fed forward over the knife, the feed being so regulated that at each cut the forward edge of the veneer strip will project slightly beyond the edge of the outer knife. As the cutting block descends, two complete picks are cut and forced downward through the knife and the process is repeated indefinitely.

By the use of this cutting knife, picks of uniform size are produced, each one per fectly formed and while the space through which the pick is forced as it enters the knife is slightly inclined from the perpendicular, the sides of the picks are found to be perfectly square with this cutting knife.

The machine may be run at a high rate of speed and the accuracy of the feed is not material so long as the end of the veneer strip extends at each out beyond the outer knife. The only difference will be that the waste portion beyond the outer knife will be more or less according to the variation of the feed.

I claim 2- 1. A knife for cutting toothpicks from veneer strips including three straight splitting blades arranged side by side to cut the bodies of two complete toothpicks, and end cutting blades interposed between the central and the outside splitting blades at their ends, the spaces between the outer and central blades expanding downwardly to permit the toothpick to be forced downwardly between the blades.

2. A knife for cutting toothpicks from veneer strips including three straight splitting blades arranged side by side to cut the bodies of two complete toothpicks and end cutting blades interposed between the central and the outside splitting blades at their ends and formed integral with the central blade, the space between the outer and central blades expanding downwardly to permit the toothpicks to be forced downwardly between the blades.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM C. KING. Witnesses C. W. KERsEY, ORA B. WINTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

